Kendrick's dad the man to thank for his composure

Phillies right-hander handles being bounced around from bullpen to rotation with ease

Kyle Kendrick and his dad, Maury Kendrick, taken in 2007. (Contributed Photo )

May 26, 2012|Mandy Housenick

PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Kendrick took the mound as a Little Leaguer with his dad looking on from the dugout.

The two shared countless high fives, loads of warmup pitches and tons of bubble gum at the ball park.

To get to that point, though, Maury Kendrick worked to instill something in Kyle that he still carries with him today.

"My dad was always really hard on me in Little League and growing up and in high school and summer leagues when I was pitching," Kendrick said. "He hated if I showed any emotion — good or bad — out there."

Inevitably, it happened. Kendrick would give up a hit and he'd make a face. The next game it would be a run that got to him and he'd snap his glove. His dad never missed it, and he reminded his son about it.

"It wasn't good," Kendrick said of his dad's reaction.

It's all good now, though.

After a promising rookie season in 2007, Kendrick dealt with being hit around in 2008, a season in which he didn't make the World Series roster, a 2009 demotion that forced him to spend much of the season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley and the latest challenge of being bounced around from the bullpen to the rotation.

Kendrick, 27, never seems flustered when he's thrown into the rotation after seemingly finding his groove in the bullpen. He keeps his cool when gets thrown back out into the bullpen. And he goes with the flow whether manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee need him for two innings of relief or to face one hitter.

That composure and ability to adapt, Kendrick said, is thanks to his dad.

"He was right about it, but I didn't understand it at the time," Kendrick said. "Just be straight faced and aggressive[out there]. And that really stuck with me all through high school and even into the pros."

As smoothly as Kendrick has made the transition the last two years — he had a career-best 3.22 ERA in 34 outings (15 starts, 19 relief appearances) in 2011 and this year he's posted a 4.33 ERA in his three starts — he learned the hard way in 2008 (5.49 ERA) that he needed more than a sinker and a fastball to survive in the major leagues.

Getting sent down in 2009 was tough to accept emotionally, but it was the first step in the maturation process for the right-hander, who the Phillies drafted in the seventh round in 2003.

That season while pitching for the IronPigs, Kendrick learned to throw a changeup. He made such drastic improvements that he was on the club's NLDS roster.

Last year, Kendrick developed his cutter, and this year he added a slider.

"I don't ever want to go back to that time in my life again," Kendrick said. "When I came up, Dubee said it before, I was just kind of thrown into it. They needed a starter and I was one of the younger guys. Nobody knew anything about me. There was no film. You can get away with attacking the strike zone and having a couple good pitches. But the league makes adjustments.

"Everything's kind of come along good. I have other pitches I could fall back on. It just gives you more weapons for people to look at. It makes pitching a lot easier."

So does having a routine you're comfortable with, and one the pitching coach commends.

The last two years, Kendrick took on the job of reporter and closely eyed the way Roy Halladay worked out in spring training and how he prepares in the four days between his starts. Kendrick has since modeled his routine after the two-time Cy Young award winner.

Gone are the days when Kendrick rushes through a side session or skips a scheduled long toss. He has a schedule and sticks to it.

"He's become much more professional about his preparation and his attention to detail," Dubee said. "For a while it was battle [with long toss]; he was very sloppy in it and it led over into his delivery on the mound.

"I attribute it to having some success and being content with having some success and not reaching for the top of your game. Unfortunately I have to be the bearer of bad news and tell them you have to reach beyond just being good enough. You've got more in your and I think there is more in Kyle."

Sometimes it was tough love between Dubee and Kendrick. It's never easy for a player to hear they're not going about things the right way.

Kendrick, though, took Dubee's message to heart.

"I was wrong," he said. "I thought it came easily and you didn't have to work at it. But I was always serious about it. I watched how guys go about their business and saw the work it takes to be consistently good.

"[Doing that] has helped me tremendously, especially, whenever that day may come when I'm in the rotation full time; I'll definitely be different. It's helped me more than I can explain. That's how you should be. You should not be coming to the park every day not knowing what you're going to do."